PA Marcellus News Digest 4/13/12

PA Marcellus News Digest

April 13, 2012

Special: Attached map showing PA counties that have adopted an impact fee

Articles

Tempers flare at Marcellus Shale drilling forum
69 News
Randy Kraft
Apri 13
(includes video)
NOCKAMIXON TWP., Pa. -
Anyone who went to Palisades High School in northern Bucks County Thursday night for an “educational forum” about Act 13, Pennsylvania’s new Marcellus Shale law, was in for a bumpy night.
It was not civility’s finest two hours.
Link: http://www.wfmz.com/news/Tempers-flare-at-Marcellus-Shale-drilling-forum/-/121458/10678428/-/npaiphz/-/index.htm

Gas drilling forum finds little support in Bucks audience
Panel stacked with regulatory officials, conservative lawmakers presents rationale for Act 13
Morning Call
JD Malone
April 13
What was dubbed an "educational forum" chock full of supporters of recent oil and gas regulation revisions tapped a well of opposition in the Palisades High School cafeteria.
A day after a Commonwealth Court judge issued a 120-day injunction on provisions of Act 13 — an oil and gas act signed into law in February by Gov. Tom Corbett — regarding the act's power to supersede local zoning ordinances, the panel made their case to the public in support of the new law. The hostility of the crowd reminded one panelist of the boo birds at Lincoln Financial Field.
Link: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-bucks-gas-drilling-marcellus-forum-20120412,0,7386061.story

House leader condemns ‘hysteria’ over new Pennsylvania drilling law
Washington Post
AP
April 12
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — House Speaker Sam Smith said Thursday it’s “outrageous” for doctors to suggest that Pennsylvania’s new Marcellus Shale law could gag them from talking to their patients about chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process.
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/house-leader-condemns-hysteria-over-new-pennsylvania-drilling-law/2012/04/12/gIQAOuOoDT_story.html

Gas driller fined $160K over leaky Pa. well
Patriot-News
AP
April 12
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Federal environmental regulators say a natural-gas driller will pay a fine of nearly $160,000 after its wastewater disposal well in rural western Pennsylvania experienced mechanical failure last year.
Link: http://www.pennlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/gas-driller-fined-160k-over-leaky-pa/eea911d686d64fffa9c789eef92c4f16

Natural Gas Impact Fee Passed in Bradford County
WETM TV
Brittni Smallwood
April 12
(includes video)
[...]Bradford County Commissioners expect to receive between $6 and $10 million dollars in 2012 alone.Gas companies have to give the money to the Public Utility Commission.  The money will be distributed by the end of the year.
However the bill was not easily passed. Bradford County Commissioner, Doug McClinko was against the fee because he said the gas companies fix every problem they cause.
Link: http://www.wetmtv.com/news/local/story/Natural-Gas-Impact-Fee-Passed-in-Bradford-County/5PmD_Z19pk6EKFub7oA9sg.cspx

Cabot plans CNG station for its vehicles in Dimock
Times-tribune
Robert L. Baker
April 13
By the end of May, Cabot Oil & Gas will have a fueling station for its fleet of vehicles that can operate on compressed natural gas, or CNG, a company spokesman George Stark told the Wyoming County Chamber of Commerce during a Wednesday luncheon.
Link: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/gas-drilling/cabot-plans-cng-station-for-its-vehicles-in-dimock-1.1299235#axzz1rwV7WNtZ

Docs say drilling law hurts health
Times-Tribune
AP
Kevin Begos and Michael Rubinkam
April 12
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Public health advocates and doctors on the front lines of Pennsylvania's natural gas-drilling boom are attacking the state's new Marcellus Shale law, likening one of its provisions to a gag order and complaining that vital research money into health effects was stripped at the last minute.
Link: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/docs-say-drilling-law-hurts-health-1.1298974#axzz1rwV7WNtZ

DEP highlights 'deficiencies' in Cabot investigation report
Times-Tribune
Laura Legere
April 12
The Department of Environmental Protection found "several deficiencies" including "definite evidence" of a spill or seep in a natural-gas driller's report that the company had said disproved a whistle-blower's claims of failures at its well sites.
Link: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/dep-highlights-deficiencies-in-cabot-investigation-report-1.1298896#axzz1rwV7WNtZ

Judge stalls zoning limits in shale law Order in lawsuit from 7 municipalities
Times-Tribune
Marc Levy
AP
HARRISBURG - A judge on Wednesday ordered a temporary halt to the section of Pennsylvania's new Marcellus Shale law that puts limits on the power of municipalities to regulate the booming natural-gas exploration industry, a victory for the seven municipalities that sued.
Link: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/gas-drilling/judge-stalls-zoning-limits-in-shale-law-order-in-lawsuit-from-7-municipalities-1.1298893#axzz1rwV7WNtZ

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PA Marcellus News Digest 4/12/12

PA Marcellus News Digest
April 12, 2012

Releases

SRBC RELEASES BASELINE CONDITIONS DATA REPORT FOR ITS REMOTE WATER QUALITY MONITORING NETWORK
Comparative Data Now Available to Track Any Future Water Quality Changes
April 12
HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC; www.srbc.net) today released a data report (http://mdw.srbc.net/remotewaterquality/reports.htm) on existing or baseline water quality conditions in small watersheds in the Marcellus shale region of the Susquehanna River Basin.  Prior to 2010 when SRBC began collecting the data through its state-of-the-art Remote Water Quality Monitoring Network (RWQMN), little to no water quality data existed for many smaller streams in northern Pennsylvania and southern tier New York.
Link: http://www.srbc.net/newsroom/NewsRelease.aspx?NewsReleaseID=82

DEP to Discuss Lathrop Compressor Station Explosion
DEP Newsroom
April 12
WILKES-BARRE -- The Department of Environmental Protection announced today that it will hold a public briefing on Tuesday April 17 to discuss the circumstances surrounding the Lathrop compressor station explosion that occurred March 29 in Springville Township, Susquehanna County.
Link: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/newsroom/14287?id=19348&typeid=1

Articles

Fracking's collateral damage
News Item
Walt Brasch
Opinion
April 8
[...]On Feb. 18, after reading a story in a local newspaper, the residents found out their landlord had sold the park. Four days later, they received certified letters making it official. The owner sold the park to Aqua PVR, a division of Aqua America, headquartered in Bryn Mawr. Sale price was $550,000. It may have been a bargain - land and industrial parks that have been vacant for years are going for premium sales prices as the natural gas boom in the Marcellus Shale consumes a large part of Pennsylvania and four surrounding states.
Link: http://newsitem.com/opinion/fracking-s-collateral-damage-1.1296732#ixzz1rYeLe9QC

Doctors say Pa. gas-drilling law hurts health
York Daily Record
Michael Rubinkam and Kevin Begos
AP
April 11
PITTSBURGH -- Public health advocates and doctors on the front lines of Pennsylvania's natural gas-drilling boom are attacking the state's new Marcellus Shale law, likening one of its provisions to a gag order and complaining that vital research money into health impacts was stripped at the last minute.
Link: http://www.ydr.com/state/ci_20374552/doctors-say-pa-gas-drilling-law-hurts-health

Judge halts zoning limits in Pa. gas drilling law
Times Leader
Marc Levy
AP
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A judge on Wednesday ordered a temporary halt to the sections of Pennsylvania's new Marcellus Shale law that put limits on the power of municipalities to regulate the booming natural gas exploration industry, a victory for the seven municipalities that sued.
Link: http://www.timesleader.com/stories/Judge-halts-zoning-limits-in-Pa-gas-drilling-law-,137769

PIPELINES: A proposed Marcellus Shale gas line seeks utility customers
E&E News
Energy Wire
Peter Behr
April 12
(full text below)
The developer of a proposed $1 billion, 195-mile gas pipeline from the Marcellus Shale gas region in western Pennsylvania to the Eastern Seaboard is counting on new gas-fired electric power plants to take up a crucial share of the pipeline's future deliveries.

"We're chasing that opportunity, and the opportunity that exists there is to burn clean natural gas and convert it into electricity," said Bill Moler, chief operating officer of Inergy Midstream. Kansas City-based Inergy says it hopes to have the Commonwealth pipeline operating by 2015.

Just under half the capacity of the planned 30-inch-diameter pipeline has been subscribed to by two major gas distribution companies in the region -- UGI Corp., serving Pennsylvania, and WGL Holdings Inc., parent of Washington Gas. But as much as a quarter of the pipeline's deliveries could go to gas generators, said Tony Cox, manager of midstream business for UGI Energy Services.

"This will provide not only a consistent, reliable supply to the area, but also competitively priced gas vis-à-vis other supplies" traveling over several thousand miles from the Gulf of Mexico or midcontinent regions, he said.

The proposed pipeline addresses an issue that has seized the attention of federal and state grid regulators: how to ensure a future adequate supply of natural gas for new power plants or old ones that convert to gas from coal or oil.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has solicited comments from both gas and power industries on the challenges of aligning their two very different infrastructures and markets.

"The two industries have become more intertwined than ever before, yet the terminology and cultures of the two industries have not progressed as far so as to ensure the level of reliability coordination that will be needed in the future," the PJM Interconnection said in its comments to FERC. Indeed, the FERC filings document in detail how far apart the two industries are at a time of profound change in the gas and electric power markets.

Testing pipeline capacity

The emergence of the Marcellus and Utica shale gas deposits around the Appalachian region has created a potentially vast new supply of natural gas for the northeastern United States. The gas boom has dropped natural gas prices to 10-year lows, making power from new gas plants cheaper than comparable coal-fired generation, Charles River Associates noted in its comments to FERC. Tight new federal environmental regulations on coal plant emissions are also accelerating the shift to gas generation from coal and oil.

Around 100 gigawatts of new gas-fired generation is expected to be added nationwide to the grid over the next decade, and the projected addition of 80 GW of wind power would also swell demand for gas generators to back up wind farms, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. noted in its filing with FERC. As a result, gas demand for the electric sector could grow by between 2 percent and 3.6 percent annually over the next two decades, NERC said.

But the expansion of gas demands coming from gas-fired generating plants will strain the existing pipeline network, particularly in the Northeast, which lies at the end of the big interstate pipeline network, according to a consensus of electric power and gas pipeline experts.

The Commonwealth project is one of a number of new pipeline ventures that could relieve strains on gas delivery for generating plants along the East Coast.

UGI's Cox said a modern 800- to 900-megawatt combined cycle gas generating plant would consume about 150,000 decatherms of natural gas a day if used for baseload supply. (A decatherm is a unit of heat value equal to 1,000 cubic feet of gas.) The Commonwealth pipeline would move between 800,000 and 1 million decatherms daily. "I expect there ought to be several hundred-thousand decatherms to offer to large power plants," Cox said.

"We have talked to power plants, existing industries and forecasted industry and power plant loads," Moler said. He and other project backers are asking how much gas those potential customers need, what it would cost to supply them and what rates would be required to make the project work, he said.

"Right now, it is a significant iterative process," he added. "While we're trying to get people signed up, the route moves one way or the other daily, and the costs and revenues adjust accordingly. We intend to have an open season [to solicit customer bids] in the second or third week of April. That will bring the parties to the table in a more formal matter."

Bridging the gap

A fundamental challenge Commonwealth faces is the marked differences in the way gas and electric power markets operate. That is the divide the Commonwealth pipeline project hopes to cross as it seeks business from both gas distributors and generators.

The pipeline industry notes that pipeline developers like Inergy don't build $1 billion projects on the come: They typically line up long-term "firm" contracts from local gas distribution utilities that have "duty to serve" requirements to deliver gas to homes and businesses.

Electricity markets like those in the Northeast operate on a completely different timetable. Grid operators decide hourly on which power plants will run based on the amount of power required each hour and the prices the generators bid.

Gas generators in these markets want to buy gas close to when it will be needed to lessen the risk that they will wind up paying for gas they cannot use if it turns out their plant isn't called on to produce power. That strategy, however, could leave them unable to operate on the coldest winter days when demand for both heating gas and gas-fired power peak: Heating customers backed by firm pipeline supply contracts will have priority.

"At present, there is no mechanism to bridge the gap between the collective need for new gas pipelines and the (commercially sensible) reluctance of individual [electric power] companies to commit to long-term gas contracts," Charles River Associates said.

The simple answer proposed by the pipeline industry is for generators to get their own long-term contracts, PJM said, but much of the power industry has lined up against that option in comments to FERC.

"Any focus on deliverability issues should not be limited by the paradigm of today's definition of what constitutes 'firm' [gas] transportation service," PJM said. Gas-fired power plant operators face complexities that don't exist in the stable world of heating gas delivery, it said. These include environmental rules that may determine when power plants can run and the uncertain timing of shutdowns at coal-fired generators in the face of costly new environmental regulations and competition from cheaper gas plants.

The New England Power Generators Association, whose members have a combined 27,000 MW of generating capacity in the region, said it "does not support mandates that natural gas-fired generators enter into firm supply contracts with gas pipelines."

The Ohio Public Utilities Commission noted to FERC that generating companies in the PJM system need to give grid managers only a 90-day advance notice of plans to retire plants and that is not enough time for new gas generation facilities to be built to replace the shuttered coal plants. The notification period should be extended to a year or two years, the commission said.

The Edison Electric Institute and many other commentators in the FERC proceeding urged the commission instead to take an active lead in seeking regional solutions to the gas-power infrastructure alignments, beginning with careful assessments of where gas shortages or bottlenecks could lead to blackouts.

FERC also should act to align gas and power markets so that pipeline developers have strong incentives to build more lines and power companies have more flexible opportunities to buy gas close to when they need it, some commentators said.

PJM said FERC should consider making generators responsible for assuring the deliverability of gas that would be needed to produce enough power to keep the grid operating reliably.

While reliability plans should reflect different regional needs, PJM said, FERC should ask whether some "overarching national criteria" on assuring gas deliveries are needed, either because current energy markets are not providing adequate incentives to get more pipelines built or because one region decides to "lean on" a neighbor and let it bear the majority of new pipeline investment costs.

PJM said FERC should investigate whether gas distributors should offer the same kind of demand response programs that give electricity consumers incentives to cut back their power requirements when demand peaks. FERC should look into turning such consumer programs into a kind of "spot market" for gas that power companies could use on short notice to meet unexpected demands, PJM added.

Inergy's Moler said the Commonwealth project will explore ways to line up utility industry support for its new pipeline and will talk to potential customers about how the gas and utility sectors can work together more effectively. One strategy is to seek to locate new gas-fired power plants closer to transmission lines and underground gas storage reservoirs. (Gas utilities can build in price and supply flexibility by calling on gas supplies stored in underground rock formations.)

"I do think there are opportunities for those two industries to have better planning and communications up front," he said. "There are ways to fix this."
###

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PA Marcellus News Digest 4/11/12

PA Marcellus News Digest

April 11, 2012

Special: TELL AQUA AMERICA NO FRACKING EVICTIONS, COME TO THE VIGIL IN BRYN MAWR ON APRIL 18TH (additional information attached).

Articles

Judge orders new gas-drilling law delayed 120 days
Post-Gazette
Laura Olson
April 11

HARRISBURG -- A state judge has granted a 120-day halt to provisions in the new Marcellus Shale drilling law that would override local zoning ordinances for industry activity.

That order, released hours after a Commonwealth Court hearing in Harrisburg on the matter, prevents the land-use portions of that law from going from going into effect on Saturday.

Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/marcellusshale/court-hearing-on-municipal-challenge-to-new-drilling-laws-ends-without-a-ruling-630882/

Judge halts zoning limits in Pa. gas drilling law
Press Connects
Marc Levy
AP
April 11
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A state judge is ordering a temporary halt to portions of Pennsylvania's new Marcellus Shale law that limit the power of municipalities to regulate the booming natural gas exploration industry.
Commonwealth Court Senior Judge Keith Quigley issued a 120-day injunction Wednesday after hearing arguments earlier in the day.
Link: http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20120411/NEWS11/204110333/Judge-halts-zoning-limits-Pa-gas-drilling-law?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

What You Need To Know About Today’s Impact Fee Hearing
NPR State Impact
Scott Detrow
April 11
This morning, Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court will hear arguments in a lawsuit aimed at stopping Pennsylvania’s new natural gas drilling impact fee from taking effect.
Here’s what you need to know about the case.
The Players: Seven municipalities from three counties have filed the lawsuit, along with the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and a doctor named Mehernosh Kahn.
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/04/11/what-you-need-to-know-about-todays-impact-fee-hearing/

Commonwealth Court hearing on Act 13 adjourns
Post-Gazette
Laura Olson
April 11
Attorneys for the commonwealth and for the municipalities challenging the state's new Marcellus Shale law are in the Commonwealth Court hearing room, and proceedings are underway before Judge Keith Quigley.
Most of the courtroom seats are filled -- Scott Perry, who is DEP's top oil and gas official, is here, as is several top House and Senate Republican aides who were involved in negotiating the final drilling legislation and some gas industry lobbyists.
Link: http://shale.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/news/archives/24460

Court to hear appeal of shale drilling law
Post-Gazette
Laura Olson
April 11
HARRISBURG -- The judicial showdown over the state's new natural gas drilling law begins this morning in Commonwealth Court, where municipal officials will be making their case as to why the statute's provisions regarding zoning rules and chemical confidentiality are unconstitutional.
Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/marcellusshale/court-to-hear-appeal-of-shale-drilling-law-630807/?p=0

Franklin Forks family sues driller
Times-Tribune
Laura Legere
April 11
A Susquehanna County family whose well water contains high levels of methane and metals filed suit against a natural gas drilling company in federal court Monday alleging drilling damaged their water and property.
Tammy and Matthew Manning of Franklin Twp. said WPX Energy and two associated companies contaminated the aquifer through spills and poorly constructed gas wells in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Link: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/gas-drilling/franklin-forks-family-sues-driller-1.1298360#axzz1rkqbI7op

Council tables vote on impact fee
Citizens Voice
April 11
WILKES-BARRE - Luzerne County Council decided Tuesday to postpone a vote to adopt an ordinance that would give the county a share of natural gas revenue until after a state judge rules whether to temporarily stop it from taking effect.
Link: http://citizensvoice.com/news/council-tables-vote-on-impact-fee-1.1298269#axzz1rkpre4l0

Survey shows "fracking" is a dirty word
Post-Gazette
Amy Friedenberger
April 10
Anti-drilling activists love using “fracking” as a double entendre ("Don't frack with us") because it bears a resemblance to one of George Carlin’s seven dirty words.
Link: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#label/Marcellus+Digest/136a1b5d912aa583

Chesapeake Energy sells assets worth $2.6 billion
Post-Gazette
Amy Friedenberger
April 10
[...]BloombergBusinessweek has a breakdown of the transaction and the reasons behind it:
The company sold shares in a new subsidiary to an investment group led by a Blackstone Group LP-led affiliate that includes TPG Capital and EIG Global Energy Partners LLC, Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake said in a statement today. The agreement gives the buyers a share of royalties from oil wells in the Cleveland and Tonkawa plays in Oklahoma and a 6 percent annual distribution.
Link: http://shale.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/news/archives/24457-chesapeake-energy-sells-assets-worth-26-billion

White House fracking rules puts gas industry on edge
Post-Gazette
Amy Friedenberger
April 10
The Department of the Interior is planning to propose new guidelines for fracking on public lands, which is shaking up leaders in the gas industry.
Link: http://shale.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/news/archives/24458-white-house-fracking-rules-puts-gas-industry-on-edge

Pa. firm buys midstream operator to move Marcellus gas
E&E News
Colin Sullivan,
April 11
(full text below)
Penn Virginia Resource Partners yesterday inked a $1 billion deal to acquire natural gas processor Chief Gathering LLC in a move meant to capitalize on the need to move product out of the Marcellus Shale.

Chief Gathering is based in Dallas but owns pipes and gathering systems that connect into one of the shale's richest areas in northeastern Pennsylvania. Penn Virginia, or PVR, from Radnor, Pa., has been looking to acquire assets to expand its presence in the region.

The shale extends beneath Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia. In a statement, PVR CEO William Shea called the deal "a transformational transaction" for the company, saying the midstream gathering and pipe side will soon account for most of its business.

"These assets ... position us well to capture significant midstream opportunities in six of the most prolific counties in the northeastern area of the Marcellus Shale," he said.

Chief's gathering systems connect to both the Transco and Tennessee interstate pipelines. The company provides smaller links and processing services, including compression, from the wellhead to interstate pipelines.

All of Chief's services are paid for through fee-based agreements with active Marcellus producers like Chesapeake Energy Corp., Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Statoil ASA, Mitsui, EXCO/BG Group, Exxon Mobil Corp., Enerplus and Chevron Corp.

Along with existing assets, PVR through the agreement gets a planned 750 million-cubic-feet-per-day trunk line to be completed in the third quarter of 2012.

Overall, Chief's infrastructure serves about 300,000 acres in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
###

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PA Marcellus News Digest 4/10/12

PA Marcellus News Digest
April 10, 2012

Articles

DRBC budget cut could affect ability to administer gas regs
News Eagle
Peter Becker
April 9
Narrowsburg, NY — While speaking about a possibly dry summer, Carol Collier, Executive Director of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), shared about a financial drought the multi-state partnership agency is experiencing. Their current budget dilemma, she advised, makes the agency less ready to administer natural gas permits once regulations are approved.
Link: http://www.neagle.com/topstories/x168225022/DRBC-budget-cut-could-affect-ability-to-administer-gas-regs

New concerns about gas compressors expected at DEP hearings
Times-Tribune
Laura Legere
April 10
State regulators will hold two meetings in the next week to gather public comment on five natural gas compressor stations proposed in Wyoming and Susquehanna counties.
Link: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/new-concerns-about-gas-compressors-expected-at-dep-hearings-1.1297644#axzz1rflH7piQ

Washington County township receives support for legal challenge of shale law
Post-Gazette
Andrea Iglar
April 10
Robinson, Washington County, has received hundreds of emails, phone calls and letters from governments and individuals supporting its joint legal challenge of Act 13, the state's new Marcellus Shale law.
Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/marcellusshale/township-receives-support-for-legal-challenge-of-shale-law-630673/

Environmental Group Says EPA’s Dimock Results Show Fracking Polluted Water

NPR State Impact
Susan Phillips
April 9
Water Defense, the anti-fracking environmental group formed by actor Mark Ruffalo, disputes the EPA’s conclusions about Dimock’s water tests. Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency released water test results from 20 households in the Susquehanna County township. The EPA says analysis of those tests reveal the water is safe to drink.
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/04/09/environmental-group-says-epas-dimock-results-shows-fracking-polluted-water/

Judge to hear suit to halt Pennsylvania gas-drilling law
Tribune-Review
AP
April 10
HARRISBURG — A state judge will hear a request for an immediate injunction against Pennsylvania's new Marcellus shale law filed by a group including seven municipalities that says it unconstitutionally takes away local powers to control land use.
Link: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_790657.html

Study throws water on emissions benefit of CNG vehicles
E&E News
Saqib Rahim
April 10
(full text below)
Powering vehicles with natural gas could take 80 to 280 years to benefit the climate more than today's auto fuels, according to a peer-reviewed report released yesterday.

At the tailpipe, natural gas-powered cars release less carbon dioxide, but getting the fuel to the car takes infrastructure -- pipes and pumps that leak methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times stronger than CO2.

All that methane means natural gas-powered cars are no cleaner than their gasoline and diesel counterparts, unless the industry begins tightening up the leaks, said the paper released yesterday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"What we're talking about are leak rates in the neighborhood of 2 to 3 percent of the gas that's produced is getting to the atmosphere. It's a relatively small number, but that's lost product," said Ramon Alvarez, senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund and the paper's lead author. "Even though it's small, though, it matters, because methane is such a potent greenhouse gas."

If natural gas goes to a power plant, Alvarez said, about 2 percent of the gas produced at the well is lost through leaks. Even with that leakage, the report found, natural gas does less climate damage than coal does.

If the gas goes to a vehicle, though, there are even more steps, and more chances for methane to escape. By the time it gets there, 3 percent has leaked.

Natural gas-powered vehicles could be better than conventional cars today, though, if the energy industry reduced methane leakage 45 to 70 percent, the researchers wrote. The paper's authors include two EDF scientists and professors from Princeton University, the Rochester Institute of Technology and Duke University.

Methane is elusive because it is under high pressure, Alvarez said. During drilling, gas escapes because it is difficult to close off all possible routes. Some gas is vented on purpose, left to seep out of tanks that contain valuable liquids from underground. Even more gas drifts away when it is transformed and transported through pipes.

The exact leakage levels, however, remain hotly contested. Alvarez and his co-authors used figures from U.S. EPA, which estimated that 2.8 percent of the gas produced from a well each year leaks away.

A February study, led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, found an average of 4 percent, while a controversial study from Cornell University found a range of 2.2 to 3.8 percent.

Each figure, including EPA's, has had its detractors in industry and outside of it. The energy industry has aggressively questioned data sources and methods, claiming that methane leakage is far below the estimates.

"The Environmental Defense Fund study is based on EPA data that the EPA itself has publicly said is outdated and incomplete," Dan Whitten, vice president for strategic communications at America's Natural Gas Alliance, said in a statement yesterday. "In fact, EDF knows new and additional data is being provided by natural gas producers. We are surprised EDF would release such a report with this knowledge in that they are aware it is premature to draw any conclusions."

Alvarez defended the paper, saying that it is not trying to offer definitive numbers on methane but trying to show that, given the best figures available today, there are choices to be made on where to use natural gas.

"We don't claim to be using the right number here; we're using the number derived from EPA's estimates and other estimates derived from the literature," he said.

Industry has criticized the figures that have come out so far, he said, "but again they haven't produced a set of data that has been accepted by EPA or the scientific establishment. There's just no definitive information out there."

 ###

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PA Marcellus News Digest 4/9/12

PA Marcellus News Digest
April 9, 2012

Specials: Attachment: Maryland Voters Strongly Support Fracking Studies

Summary: OpinionWorks has polled Maryland voters on two issues related to proposals to drill for natural
gas using a method known as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” for short. This statewide voter
poll, conducted March 16-19, 2012 among 601 registered voters statewide, has found
overwhelmingly that Marylanders want studies of the fracking method before it is permitted in
the State, and that they want the energy companies to pay for those studies.

eMap Offers New Marcellus Imagery and Parcel Data
Geo Community Spatial News
eMap International is pleased to announce that it can deliver a unique combination of new 30 cm high resolution orthorectified aerial imagery and current property parcel data to assist in energy exploration within the entire Marcellus Region covering all of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, New York and Kentucky.

For special discount pricing and product delivery specifications please contact: Kimberly Nale knale@emap-int.com

Link: http://spatialnews.geocomm.com/dailynews/2012/apr/06/news1.html

Release

DEP to Hold April 17 Public Meeting, Hearing on Proposed Susquehanna County Compressor Stations
DEP Newsroom
April 9
Wilkes-Barre - The Department of Environmental Protection will hold a public meeting and hearing on Tuesday, April 17, to discuss air quality plan approval applications from Laser Northeast Gathering, a subsidiary of Williams Partners, to construct four separate natural gas compressor stations in Liberty, Middletown and Forest Lake townships in Susquehanna County.
Link: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/newsroom/14287?id=19343&typeid=1
Articles
Patterson-UTI drilling company is known for spotty safety record
Patriot-News
Donald Gilliland
April 7
Some drilling operations are deadlier than others.
Brandon Pennywell, a 24-year-old Harrisburg man killed on a drilling rig in Forest County on Thursday morning, was the second Patterson-UTI employee to be killed on the job in as many days.
A Patterson rig worker in Gonzales, Texas, had fallen 50 feet to his death the day before.
Link: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/04/patterson-uti_drilling_company.html
Northern Pennsylvania gas explosion was out of regulatory reach
Inquirer
Joseph Tanfani
April 8
Houses trembled a half mile away when a natural gas explosion rattled a compressor station near Springville, a hotbed of Marcellus Shale development in northern Pennsylvania.
Link: http://articles.philly.com/2012-04-08/news/31308559_1_gas-safety-gas-explosion-natural-gas
Pennsylvania High Court Takes Appeal on Marcellus Gas Rights
Bloom Berg
Sophia Pearson and Mike Lee
April 4
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal of a dispute over Marcellus Shale natural-gas rights that could affect thousands of drilling leases in the state.
Pennsylvania landowners John and Mary Butler are challenging an intermediate appeals court ruling that called for scientific opinion on whether Marcellus Shale gas, which is released by the process known as hydraulic fracturing, should be considered a mineral under an 1882 decision of the Supreme Court. In the trial court, the Butlers won their claim to the natural gas rights.
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-04/pennsylvania-high-court-takes-appeal-on-marcellus-gas-rights-2-.html
Groups seek stricter enforcement of compressor station after explosion
Times-Tribune
Laura Legere
April 7
An environmental group and about 100 other citizens and organizations petitioned the state's chief environmental regulator on Friday to take strict enforcement action against a company whose natural gas compressor station was damaged by an explosion last week.
Link: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/groups-seek-stricter-enforcement-of-compressor-station-after-explosion-1.1296686#axzz1rYfBqZhw
Don't wake the bats! Energy firms watch sensitive habitats
Post-Gazette
Erich Schwartzel
April 9
The Indiana bat weighs less than an ounce and is so small it is able to nest in the spaces between a tree trunk and its rotting bark.
It can also do what class-action lawsuits and full-throated protesters haven't been able to: stop Marcellus Shale drilling.
Link: http://shale.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/news/archives/24451
How Fracking Could Disrupt CO2 Sequestration
NPR State Impact
Susan Phillips
April 6
The goal of carbon dioxide sequestration is to bury the harmful greenhouse gas thousands of feet underground. The goal of fracking is to release natural gas from deeply buried deposits.
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/04/06/how-fracking-could-disrupt-co2-sequestration/
MSC, drillers seek to intervene in Act 13 suit
Post-Gazette
Laura Olson
April 6
As the Associated Press reported on Thursday, the Marcellus Shale Coalition, the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association, and several drilling companies have filed a request to intervene in the Act 13 lawsuit filed by seven municipalities.
Link: http://shale.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/news/archives/24450-msc-drillers-seek-to-intervene-in-act-13-suit

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PA Marcellus News Digest 4/6/12

PA Marcellus News Digest

April 6, 2012

Articles

Exclusive: Pennsylvania fracking firm in lead for Philly refinery: sources
Reuters
Janet McGurty
April 2
Preferred Sands LLC, a unit of a privately owned Pennsylvania-based investment firm, is seen as a possible frontrunner to buy Sunoco Inc's (SUN.N) Philadelphia refinery, two sources familiar with the bidding process said on Monday.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/02/us-sunoco-philadelphia-sale-idUSBRE83116Z20120402

EPA delays ‘fracking’ air pollution rules
The Hill
Ben Geman
April 2
The Environmental Protection Agency is again delaying the rollout of final air pollution standards for natural gas wells developed with the controversial method called hydraulic fracturing.
The agency, under a consent decree with environmental groups, faced an April 3 deadline to complete rules to slash smog-forming and toxic emissions from gas wells, compressors, oil storage tanks and other oil-and-gas sector equipment.
Link: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/219565-epa-delays-fracking-air-pollution-rules

Chem industry leaders tout Marcellus Shale
Central Penn Business
Tim Stuhldreher
April 3
Marcellus Shale natural gas is a "once in a generation gift" to Pennsylvania and the United States, but diverting too much of it into electricity generation would harm other potential users, the head of the American Chemistry Council said this morning.
Link: http://www.centralpennbusiness.com/article/20120403/CPBJ01/120409960/Chem-industry-leaders-tout-Marcellus-Shale

City Council Supports Lawsuit Against New Marcellus Shale Law
Essential Public Radio
Noah Brode
April 6
Pittsburgh City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to support seven Pennsylvania municipalities that are suing the state over Marcellus Shale drilling legislation passed earlier this year.
Link: http://www.essentialpublicradio.org/story/2012-04-03/city-council-supports-lawsuit-against-new-marcellus-shale-law-10674

Housing woes worsen
Update of study begins summit
Sun-Gazette
Mark Maroney
April 4
The problem of housing shortages, hiked rents and homelessness as a result of activities by the Marcellus Shale gas drilling industry didn't happen overnight, and it won't be solved in short order.
Link: http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/576617/Housing-woes-worsen.html?nav=5011

Hush, Doctors: Gas industry gags physicians
Inquirer
Philadelphia Daily News
Editorial
April 6
WHAT ARE they afraid of?
That's the obvious question that arises from yet another move by the fracking industry, and their BFFs in Pennsylvania government, to keep secret ("proprietary," if you will) the toxic chemicals that they are injecting into the earth.
Link: http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20120406_DN_Editorial__Hush__Doctors__Gas_industry_gags_physicians.html

Partners to stretch $150 million gas line across the region
Tribune-Review
Jodi Weigand, Valley News Dispatch
April 6
NiSource Gas Transmission and Storage on Thursday announced a partnership with Texas-based XTO Energy to build a 70-mile natural gas pipeline across Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Link: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_790103.html

Wayne County approves gas drilling impact fee
Times-Tribune
April 6
(full text below)
HONESDALE - Wayne County commissioners OK'd an impact fee ordinance for Marcellus Shale natural gas wells on Thursday.
Although the county has no gas wells in production, four exploratory wells make the county eligible to receive some of the money collected through the new law, known as Act 13. The law assesses $10,000 per vertical well and $50,000 per horizontal well in participating counties.
Link: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/wayne-county-approves-gas-drilling-impact-fee-1.1296215#axzz1rHisLsYz

EPA releases 20 new Dimock water test results
Times-Tribune
Laura Legere
April 6
Federal regulators have released the second set of sampling results from their investigation in Dimock Twp.
The Environmental Protection Agency found that the 20 new results - like the first 11 released three weeks ago - "did not show levels of contaminants that would give EPA reason to take immediate action," spokesman Roy Seneca said in a statement Friday.
Link: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/epa-releases-20-new-dimock-water-test-results-1.1296333#axzz1rHYcsvft

Romney calls Obama "an anti-energy president"
Post-Gazette
Laura Olson
April 5
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney slammed the current federal policies on oil and gas drilling today during both his morning meet-and-greet with campaign workers in Harrisburg and his jaunt northeast to a Scranton-area company involved in hauling the millions of gallons of fluids used in hydraulic fracturing.
Link: http://shale.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/news/archives/24448

Grading EPA's Investigations In Parker County, Pavillion, & Dimock "Fracking" Cases
John Hanger's Facts of The Day
Blog
April 3
The first thing to note about EPA's investigations into local cases concerning impacts of gas drilling on water is that they are few in number.  To my knowledge, just the fingers on one had is enough to count them.
Link: http://www.johnhanger.blogspot.com/2012/04/grading-epas-investigations-in-parker.html

Oil, gas industry groups seek to join lawsuit
Philly Burbs
AP
April 6
PITTSBURGH — A coalition of oil and gas industry companies is challenging a group of municipalities — including Yardley and Nockamixon — who are suing Pennsylvania over a new law that aims to regulate gas drilling.
Link: http://www.phillyburbs.com/my_town/palisades/oil-gas-industry-groups-seek-to-join-lawsuit/article_fd7d9ffe-0083-5a88-b4a5-32ebd6e4b1e7.html

Matt Damon to star in 'The Promised Land' anti-fracking movie
Politico
Talia Buford and Erica Martinson
April 5
Matt Damon will star in “The Promised Land,” an anti-fracking movie set to begin filming later this month.
WME Agency, which represents Damon, confirmed that the “Good Will Hunting” star has signed on to the movie and co-wrote the film, and that it is, indeed, about hydraulic fracturing — the controversial practice of pumping a mixture of sand, water and chemicals into a well to break up rock and help extract natural gas.
Link: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/74884.html

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PA Marcellus News Digest 4/5/12

PA Marcellus News Digest
April 5, 2012

Articles

Looks like energy companies all wet about Pennsylvania's gas reserves
Patriot-News
Gloria McVeigh
Letter to the Editor
March 29
Not content to corrupt susceptible Pennsylvania state legislators and the governor with cash to ensure maximum profits with minimal health and environmental regulations, the natural gas industry is also creating the next Wall Street investment bubble.
Link: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/03/why_arent_school_districts_dru.html

County debates Marcellus impact fee
Courier Express
April 4
CLARION - Clarion County township supervisors and residents appear guardedly in favor of approving the Act 13 Marcellus shale gas drilling impact fee that may mean a significant influx of money to government coffers.
Link: http://www.thecourierexpress.com/leadervindicatorlvlocal/955922-349/county-debates-marcellus-impact-fee.html

Explaining Pennsylvania’s Link To Ohio Earthquakes
NPR State Impact
Scott Detrow
April 4
[...] Ohio’s 177 injection wells absorbed 12 million barrels of waste last year, with about 20 percent coming from Pennsylvania. What’s in it for Ohio? The Buckeye State charges a higher per-barrel fee for out-of-state waste, and netted 1.5 million dollars from the practice last year.
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/04/04/pennsylvanias-link-to-ohio-earthquakes/

Pa. high court takes up shale gas leases dispute
Patriot-News
AP
April 4
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania's high court will take a case that's raising questions about whether leases to countless properties signed by the booming natural gas industry should be interpreted to include the methane locked in the vast Marcellus Shale formation.
Link: http://www.pennlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/pa-high-court-takes-up-shale-gas/90a4d2e37cd142188a1a9aa24853c0dd

Municipalities get expedited hearing in suit against state shale law
Post-Gazette
April 5
The seven municipalities challenging the state's new law governing natural gas drilling activities will get their day in court next week, after the Commonwealth Court on Wednesday granted their request for an expedited hearing.
Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/municipalities-get-expedited-hearing-in-suit-against-state-shale-law-629980/

Romney Heads to Shale Country
NPR State Impact
Susan Phillips
April 5
The race is on in Pennsylvania. Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney will visit a frack water withdrawal site in Wyoming County today. Romney plans to tour Mountain Energy Services, a company formed by two brothers to serve the Marcellus Shale drilling boom in northeast Pennsylvania.
Link: https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/04/05/romney-heads-to-shale-country/

Commissioners OK impact fee
Centre Daily Times
Matt Carroll
April 4
BELLEFONTE — Centre County will accept its share of an impact fee for Marcellus Shale wells drilled within the county’s borders.
Commissioners unanimously voted Tuesday morning to enact the drilling fee, a move expected to net the county $500,000.
Link: http://www.centredaily.com/2012/04/04/3151103/commissioners-ok-impact-fee.html

State approves Keystone Landfill plan to accept more waste
Tribune-Review
Laura Legere
April 4
[...] The landfill in Dunmore and Throop applied last May to increase its maximum daily disposal capacity from 5,000 to 7,500 tons and its average daily intake from 4,750 to 7,250 tons, largely to dispose of more rock waste from Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling.
Link: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/state-approves-keystone-landfill-plan-to-accept-more-waste-1.1294394#axzz1r4fOv864

Fired natural gas worker admits to knowingly damaging pipeline in Lycoming County
Patriot-News
John Beauge
April 4
WILLIAMSPORT — A fired natural gas worker has admitted on three occasions last June he knowingly damaged a pipeline in northern Lycoming County with an excavator.
The guilty plea entered Wednesday in U.S. Middle District Court by Henry V. Benton, 44, of Bradford, Ark., was taken under advisement by Judge John E. Jones III because it would bind him to imposing a prison sentence of between 12 and 18 months and ordering restitution of between $50,000 and $208,233.
Link: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/04/fired_natural_gas_worker_admit.html

Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale fee revenues are now in doubt
Patriot-News
Editorial
April 5
All eyes in Pennsylvania should be on Bradford County next week. What happens at the April 12 county commissioners’ meeting there will have ramifications for people statewide.
Link: http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2012/04/pennsylvanias_marcellus_shale_1.html

Susquehanna County compression station up and running without state permission
Citizens Voice
Laura Legere
April 5
A damaged Susquehanna County natural gas compressor station restarted operations last week despite state regulators' request the facility remain shut down during an investigation, the Department of Environmental Protection said Wednesday.
Link: http://citizensvoice.com/news/drilling/susquehanna-county-compression-station-up-and-running-without-state-permission-1.1295296#axzz1rCZWL3Ei

Commonwealth Court: certain natural gas pipeline records not public
Pennsylvania Record
Jon Campisi
March 29
A state appellate court panel reviewing an appeal from a journalist who sought certain records from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has determined that records relating to the safety of natural gas pipelines are not public.
Link: http://pennrecord.com/news/commonwealth-court-certain-natural-gas-pipeline-records-not-public/

Marcellus Shale: Pennsylvania's Manna From Heaven
Commonwealth Foundation
Katrina Currie
April 4
Yesterday, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and the Pennsylvania Chemical Industry Council hosted a forum on the benefits of natural gas for Pennsylvania's manufacturing sector.
David Taylor of the PA Manufacturers' Association commented that Marcellus Shale is the closest thing Pennsylvania will get to "manna from heaven." On top of creating tens of thousands of jobs in Marcellus Shale related industries, lowering utility bills, and generating fortunes for farmers, workers and small-business owners, shale drilling is helping to revitalize the manufacturing industry.
Link: http://www.commonwealthfoundation.org/policyblog/detail/marcellus-shale-pennsylvanias-manna-from-heaven

Marcellus shale could prove boon for Delco
Daily Times
Editorial
April 4
Marcellus shale drilling is regarded by many Pennsylvanians as a raw deal for them and a sweet deal for gas companies, so it is encouraging to think there could be some benefits for Delaware County residents from the exploitation of this natural resource.
Link: http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2012/04/04/opinion/doc4f7bbc8caa098496340119.txt

Gas work having impact on area streams
Sun Gazette
Alyssa Murphy
April 4
TROUT RUN - The latest way to measure the negative impacts to water quality from natural gas development activities show some earth disturbance impacts in Lycoming County.
Link: http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/576619/Gas-work-having-impact-on-area-streams.html?nav=5011

County set to adopt impact fee ordinance
Sun Gazette
David Thompson
April 4
Although they believe the state gas drilling impact fee legislation is not perfect, the Lycoming County commissioners on Tuesday said they will enact an ordinance to allow the county to receive impact fee revenue.
Link: http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/576620/County-set-to-adopt-impact-fee-ordinance.html?nav=5011

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